Seal for seal-locks



(No Model.)

E. H. LEA &-W.-.B. MARKS. SEAL PQR SEAL LOCKS.

No. 417,358. Patented Dec.' 17, 1889;'

y UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

EDlVIN H. LEA AND VALTER B. MARKS, OFv RICHMOND, VIRGINIA.

SEAL FOR SEAL-LOCKS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 417,358, dated December17, 1889.

Application filed March 6, 1889.

To au whom, it may concern.'

Be it known that we,EDWIN H. LEA andv VALTER B. MARKS, both citizens ofthe United States, residing at Richmond, in the county of Henrico andState of Virginia, have invented certain new and usefullmprovements inSeals for Seal-Locks; and We do hereby declare the following to be afull, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enableothers skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use thesame.

Our invention relates to seals for seal-locks for use on freight,postal, and other cars or vehicles, and is especially useful inconnection with the seal-lock illustrated in Letters Patent No. 398,411,granted to us February 26, 1889, which lock is provided with a retainingtumbler or pin operative only from the inside of a car or otherstructure, and combined with a sliding open-loop staple-bolt, a safetyretaining-stop for said tumbler or pin, and the hasp or door of a car orother structure on which the lock is applied; but it is not necessarilyconfined to that special lock, as it maybe applied on other analogousseal-locks with advantage; and its novelty and utility consist in itspeculiar construction, whereby it is adapted for seal-locks, and answersa 'better purpose than seals now in use, as will appear from thefollowing specification and claims.

In the drawings, Figure l is a detail front perspective view of the sealas manufactured for use. Fig. 2 is a front View of the same after beingmarked for specific use on a car or other structure. Fig. 3 is avertical section of a portion of a car, a seal-lock with its bolt movedoutward, and our improved seal applied to it ready for the bolt of thelock to be moved back to its locking position. Fig. 4 is a similarsection showing the parts in their locked and sealed positions. Fig. 5is atransverse section of the open-loop staple-boltwith seal on it. Fig.6 is ahorizontal section of the parts shown in Fig. 3, and Fig. 7 is asimilar View of the parts as shown in Fig. et. Figs. 8 and 9 are'equivalent modifications ofour seal.

The seal-lock seal A is preferably made of wood; but it may be ofpasteboard, paper, or other suitable fragile, tearable, or breakablevfibrous vegetable substance with less advan- Serial No. 302,202.(No'model.)

tage. In form it is preferably a parallelogram-say three by fourinchesand in or near its center a square, oblong, or other shaped hole ais provided, and directly above and over this hole it is provided with apassage or is notched, as at b, to a depth, say, of about three-fourthsof an inch, the notch forming vertical side shoulders terminatingupwardly and/outwardly in rounded corners c c, or otherwise suitably, soas to give a flaring or ready entrance to the notch. On the face of theseal suitable division-lines, forming marking and numbering spaces and aspace for the station agents stamp are provided in the manner indicatedin the drawings, or in any other suitable manner or order, accordinglyas the demands of the transportation business may require. The sealsbeing made entirely of Wood or other impressible or indentible fragile,iearable, or breakable material, as pasteboard or paper, can be markedeither with a stamp set with printing-type or with a pencihpen, orpaint-brush.

The wooden seal is preferred, because it does not become disintegratedwhen completely soaked with water; nor will the notations or words andnumbers produced by penciling, writing, printing, or painting on itsface become seriously defaced under such circumstances, and thus manyserious diiculties from destruction and defacement of the seals will beavoided.

It will be seen from the drawings, Figs. 3

to 7, that by means of the hole a, portion a',

and the notch b the seal can be hung vertically upon our aforesaidseal-lock, or upon any other analogous seal-lock,andthat the hasp mofthe lock being first closed upon the staple-bolt B the seal is adjustedto its posi-- tion on the staple-bolt, the central hole d receivingthrough it the loop f of the said staple-bolt; that the seal is thenpassed along said loop unt-il it reaches the opening gin the loop f,whereupon that portion a of the -seal which is between the hole a andthe notch b is passed down through the opening g into the. space betweenthe bottom and top of the looped end f of the bolt, thereby causing thebase of the notch b to descend sufiiciently below the upper portion h ofthe looped staple- IOO bolt to allow said portion to pass through saidnotch, and that when the seal is thus ad.-

iusted the bolt is forced inward tar enough to insure its being lockedby a pin or gravitating tumbler C of the lock on the insideot the car,in which locked position the opening g is concealed and access from theoutside of the car is rendered impossible, all as set forth in ouraforesaid patented seallock. \`\'hile the looped staple-bolt is beingpressed inward the portion a of the seal slides in the loop of thebolt,and the notch il permits thc upper portion 7L of the loopedstaple-bolt to pass inward far enough to conceal the opening. This is animportant feature of the seal, for wilhout the central hole a and notchl), or equivalent passage-as, for instance a slot lax-it would beimpracticable to hang or place the seal upon our aforesaid seal-lock orany other analogous seal-lock.

The part af of t-he seal holds the same in a vertical position in theloop ot the bolt, and also prevents it from being taken from the boltafter the lock has once been locked, thus preventing fraudulent entranceinto the car without detection. It also prevents thehasp being taken oitthe staple-bolt without first partially or totally destroying the seal,thus rendering certain exposure if any attempt to talnper with theseal-lock is made. This seal is peculiarly adapted for seallocksconstructed aft-er our aforesaid patent, and it will eftectually andsafely seal the same and at the same time is lnore easily manipulated,and is more serviceable and durable against exposure to wet weather andthe friction caused by the motion of the train than other seals adaptedfor seal-locks of the character referred to.

In Fig. 8 we have shown the construction of the sea-l when a slot bX asthe equivalent of the notch b is substituted for the notch, and in Fig.9 its construction when a notch b as the equivalent of the hole@ isprovided at its bottom.

Although we have described and shown the tag as adapted by the size ofits hole a to be slipped horizontally upon the looped end f of the boltB and allowed to drop through the opening (j, and then to be slippedunder the upper portion 7l of said loopcil end, it is obvious that thetag can be applied to the bolt by inverting its upper edge, adjusting it\'er' tically and crosswise of the bolt in line with opening g, loweringitinto the looped end fof the bolt until its portion a rests upon thebottom portion of the loop oithe bolt and then sliding it under theupper portion h of the loop as far as it is allowed to go, and thenswinging the tag downward around the front end of the bolt, so as tohave its printed face turned outward instead of inward, as when it wasinverted. This mode ot' applyin the tag is the best and the one we havealways adopted, and it is preferable, becausethe central hole a shouldbe made as small as possible, in order to have a large amount ofmarking-surface on the tag outside of the margin of said hole.

\Vc make no claim for a tag such as is shown and claimed in LettersPatent No. 150,817, for such construction would defeat the purposes andobject ot' our invention, which is a seal-tag capable ot being brokencompletely in two, orof being torn completely in two.

What we claim is* The combination,with the open-looped staple-bolt of aseal-lock, of a tag formed of f ragile, tearable, or breakable fibrousvegetable material and with a passage for fitting it upon the bolt, anda passage above said bolt-passage for the accommodation of the upperportion of the loop of the bolt after the tag has been fitted upon thebolt and while it is being slid upon the bolt, or the bolt slid upon it,substantially as described.

In testimony whereof we hereunto aliix our signatures in presence of twowitnesses.

' EDWIN H. LEA.

\VALTER B. MARKS. .Witnessesz GEO. H. SCOTT, R. R. FIELD.

